Thread: Shimano 500 size reels

Originally Posted by gillchaser999

I watched “ The Obsession of Carter Andrews” this week . He was fishing up north for smallmouth bass .
He said the smallmouth was one of his favorite fish to fish for with ultralight tackle .
Later he told what his rod , reel and line was . He was using 8# braid with an 8# fluorocarbon leader . Not what I would call ultralight . .
Shimano sponsors his show . He doesn’t pay for his reels , they are provided for him . He fishes a lot of YoZuri baits too . Another sponsor . Even his boat is provided by a sponsor . No different than Bill Dance and Quantum.

Nobody sponsors me, so I’m no expert, but I thought the “sponsoree” got big discounts on tackle but not free tackle.

Originally Posted by deathb4disco

Nobody sponsors me, so I’m no expert, but I thought the “sponsoree” got big discounts on tackle but not free tackle.

I can’t find proof that Carter gets his gear for free , but , there’s a guy on YouTube that’s been doing videos “professionally” for about two years now . Meaning it’s become his only job .
He’s not sponsored by Shimano , but he has said many times his sponsors send him his tackle for him to use in his videos , including a nice Old Town pedal Kayak , that ain’t cheap .
He was just recently picked up by Kastking. Not Shimano , but free tackle is free tackle .
He has unboxing videos of gear and lures his sponsors have sent him to use .
He’s not the only YouTuber that gets free equipment. A lot of them do .
If a YouTuber gets his tackle for free , I’m sure a professional TV personality gets a nice deal on his tackle .

Originally Posted by gillchaser999

I can’t find proof that Carter gets his gear for free , but , there’s a guy on YouTube that’s been doing videos “professionally” for about two years now . Meaning it’s become his only job .
He’s not sponsored by Shimano , but he has said many times his sponsors send him his tackle for him to use in his videos , including a nice Old Town pedal Kayak , that ain’t cheap .
He was just recently picked up by Kastking. Not Shimano , but free tackle is free tackle .
He has unboxing videos of gear and lures his sponsors have sent him to use .
He’s not the only YouTuber that gets free equipment. A lot of them do .
If a YouTuber gets his tackle for free , I’m sure a professional TV personality gets a nice deal on his tackle .

I was not familiar with him until I read this thread. I am sure he gets quite a bit of free gear due to his TV presence. Free gear is great as long as it is something you will use. I have had a lot of offers to promote US market reels...rods...lines...jig heads...quite a bit of stuff actually. If I went down that road no doubt my channel would get a lot more subscribers and views, and I would get a lot of free gear. But I would not use any of the gear that has been offered to me. Daiwa Japan has not come calling...nor will they ever. No JDM rod manufacturers have come calling either...LOL. Sponsorship is another story....that involves money. I am involved with two companies and I get some great perks from them...but even if I was not involved with them I would use their product anyway. Most folks would be surprised just how much "stuff" YouTubers are offered. Of course the bigger your channel the better it gets.


Regards